RELATED NEWS

The imposing complex of villas and stilt houses illegally built by Ngo Van Quang at the foot of Hai Van Mountain in Da Nang. Photo credit: Tuoi Tre

Da Nang City will force the demolition of two luxury villa complexes illegally built on its forest land by a retired police officer and a gold mining tycoon.

Major-general Phan Nhu Thach, former police chief of the nearby Quang Nam Province, was ordered to demolish the three-storey villa that he built near a stream on the edge of the Nam Hai Van Forest without any permit, local media reported.

If he fails to pull down the villa, covering an area of 17,750 square meters, by March 10, authorities will step in to do the job.

Thach has also been fined VND40-50 million (US$1,873-2,342) for the unlawful construction.

The same measure and fine will be applied to the complex of villas and stilt houses unlawfully built by Ngo Van Quang, a gold mining tycoon in Quang Nam.

Thach’s family reportedly bought a few pieces of agricultural land in the Nam Hai Van forest, which cannot be used for residential purposes, and sold them to Quang.

Quang then built the imposing complex worth over VND100 billion ($4.68 million) at the foot of Hai Van Mountain.